It took a lot to be the best hockey team in the world. It was a long and tiring process, yet they did it. The practices seemed to go on forever, but that was nothing compared to the games. Days when they found themselves to sore to move, drowning in their own sweat, they didn't see why they were doing it. They had lost sight of their goal. But as quickly as it was gone, it was back.
Looking at it now, though, he found it easy. Compared to everyday life it was simple. During those months it was hockey, hockey, hockey. Now it was complicated, everyday there was something different. It took a lot to adjust, and he didn't think he had yet. Life had become complicated in less than a minute.
He constantly had to remind himself that it didn't do to dwell on the past. One who did had no future and often found themselves with only slight glimpses of the present. After all, with the past clouding your mind, how could you move on? It did permit a certain sense of pride, being on the top, but there was still a long path ahead of him. Still, he would sink into the dark oblivion of the forgotten if he continued his dwelling.
It was funny how the world worked. You work so hard, and get exactly what you want. During your working you promise to yourself that you'll never do it again. Yet once it was all over, you would realize how much you longed for those days. Everything was simple; you only had one thing on your mind for the entire time; your goal, the one thing that really mattered in the end.
Then when it happened, you were the happiest man alive. It didn't take much to figure that out. You've done what they all said you couldn't, proved them wrong and gotten what you wanted. But in the blink of an eye you would find yourself at one of the lowest points imaginable. You would have to find another way to make money, you have to support yourself; hockey couldn't help you that much. It took a lot to survive after the first few months when you were still at a high point.
The world was cruel, harsh and brutal. It would pick you up, drop you, and laugh in your face. It had a habit of making you want to quit, stop completely. And now that you were alone in facing it, it took all you had to continue. But you weren't as alone as you thought; you just couldn't see it. The people you had been with throughout the months of endless working had the same problems. And just as you couldn't see it, they couldn't either.
It wasn't often that people would congratulate you, as one would have expected. They didn't know you; they knew the team. They knew red, white, and blue. The only way you could be recognized was to wear your jersey wherever you went. One would suppose that it was simply another way of proving that it was a team effort, but you would always find yourself hoping for a little more recognition.
It was hard to harness the little recognition and happiness you had. He would think the past seemed little more than an illusion, something that would be forgotten in time and left alone to devour itself. Dwelling on forgotten things didn't do either. The world would turn itself away you if you dwelled, though it often seemed as if it already had.
Even as the world turned, it appeared he would be left behind. If only he was back in those days of hockey, hockey, hockey. It would be easy. Everything would be easy. Fearing being left had made a grave decision that the past would be forgotten. But even as he had told himself that, he found that he rather tucked it away in a deep dark uninviting part of his mind. One would have to dig deep to find what they truly desired; memories of happiness and love that had only brought joy for so long. He could hide them away.
That was it, he had to hide them away, he had to move on. He couldn't take them out until he was thriving in life, if only for a glimpse. The world had its cruelty and its kindness and everyone had their share of both, some more than others. People were constantly lost in their memories, but one couldn't with such a long road before them. Nearing the end of his road he could thrive in them, rather than life, and forget the world around him. And even as the world turns, he could be lost in a wave a memories, and forget how uncharacteristically cruel said world was. He could move on, if only for a while, even as the world turns.
Well, I think that went rather well, don't you? It's Mark Johnson, by the way, because there needs to be more Mark/Eric loving, yes. Though, I suppose, if you in vision someone else it works. If you do please tell me who, I like to know who people think I capture. I hope you enjoyed it, if that's even possible. I'll have to say that I sort of like it, though I don't really like it, if that makes any sense. Eep, let me also state that I had absolutely no idea that there was a TV show called As the World Turns until I was browsing after I had finished this. That is © its creators, if you think I did, but honestly, I spend more time in front of the computer than the TV. Yeah, anyway.
Please R&R!
-Piper Brandybuck